How does one get from emphatically stating they will never have an online presence to being active on the Hive blockchain - a "social experiment?"
Glad you asked! 🙂
"Come on in" and let me tell you a little bit of the story of how this man out in the Rocky Mountains of America went from "never" to rapidly approaching 2-½ years on a remarkable journey through a "virtual world" he could have hardly imagined.
In the Beginning ...
The story begins very simply, as it might have in similar ways with many of you. By someone in your family or circle of friends introducing you to the idea of "cryptocurrencies" and the blockchain technology which makes them possible.
In my case, it was a sibling. Who I ignored for over a year ... 😉
But in August 2017, due to some unusual circumstances, I had a significant, uncommitted block of time to devote to something. Just to appease this sibling, I thought to myself, "Ohhh, all right ... I'll take a look at it ..." 😏
Thinking at least I could then provide them a little bit more well reasoned response to their persistent efforts to get me to consider this "revolutionary" idea. Well ... Surprise, surprise! They are "revolutionary!" 🤓
Having written extensively about all that took place in my "due diligence" research, I'll just sum it here by saying the idea of "cryptocurrencies" had me when I began to grasp the idea of Bitcoin functioning as virtual gold. As a Metallurgical Engineer who'd spent over 20 years in the mining industry, in general, and in the Nevada "gold rush" of the 1980s, in particular, this idea was very intriguing. As a fiscal conservation and something of a "hard money" advocate, the design of bitcoin to simulate mining and increasing "scarcity" seemed a marvel of creative genius.
So ... I bought some! Within a week of that fateful decision, I had done enough research on other "alt coins" to invest in a number of others.
Including STEEM (won't be covering that ... 😉) HIVE!
One of my children is a pretty avid contributor to Reddit. Other members of my family, as is true across the globe, are on Facebook. Me? I was on none of them, nor did I ever plan to be. For reasons I won't get into here ...
The idea of this "social experiment" alt coin, however, based on the simple idea of replacing "likes," "smiley faces," and / or "hearts with $$s was intriguing. I was afterall, investing and given how popular social media is this concept seemed like one worthy of a "roll of the dice" ...
So, I simply invested in STEEM HIVE and powered up, to earn the passive rewards one receives for simply HODL'ing them in this state. And never thought much more about it for about 6 months. In the Spring of 2018, after the euphoria of the meteoric rise and ATHs of the whole crypto market quickly fading, I began to a new round of research and trying to better understand the "use case" of each of my investments in this new digital asset class.
So ... I decided to write my first post and begin to engage with others all over the world who were doing the same thing. I soon began to experience a "world" which I had no real clear idea about its existence prior to choosing to start this "journey" into the unknown.
From that time to the present, I will just say I have "met" many wonderful people, who I am very unlikely to ever meet in real life, although that is always a possibility. It is hard to adequately express in words what it is like to experience interacting with others directly, without any of the "filters" of the "real world" to stand in the way.
Just a few examples of some of the people with whom I have formed a bit of a bond:
- A remarkably gracious Canadian living on the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico caring for her terminally ill husband there.
- A native Chinese (from Xi'an on the mainland ...), formerly a dept. head at Airbnb, who built and led a team of fellow coders to create the first powerful mobile app for the blockchain.
- A devout Venezuelan woman living with her family under the growing tyranny of her government and all the resulting deprivations with which they are faced.
- An "energizer bunny" Muslim lady on some island in Indonesia who was unfailingly cheerful and tireless in her efforts to learn to post in English.
- A professional psychologist, who lives with her family on the shores of the Black Sea in Bulgaria. Both a wonderfully engaging person and a gifted writer.
- A native of England, with Chinese ancestry, who moved to Taiwan and with whom I have traded postcards! 😉 As well as lots of welcome insights into that part of the world ...
- A poor South Korean who valiantly struggles to also write in English. Spurning the South Korean communities, because of his great interest in American and the West ...
- A passionate native of Mexico, also on the Yucatán Peninsula, who teaches in the arts at a local college there.
So many others could be listed, as you encounter a lot of people over 2-½ years, if you are in any way active, but this should give you a good idea!
These interactions with others have been invaluable in helping me get through the "tough times" which one can experience "in here." Like any enterprise of man, where there are people, there are problems. The Hive blockchain is no "Utopia," in spite of the seemingly tireless efforts of some to make it so. We each respond to the various challenges encountered based upon our individual characters, cultures, etc.
At the "end of the day," it is all a matter of perspective and who one chooses to view it. On balance the "good" far outweighs the "bad" and this Hive blogger does not see that changing in the foreseeable future.
Much More than Social Media!
But ... As beneficial as I have found these social interactions to be and surprised by how much I actually enjoyed writing (surprise, surprise!), that is only the beginning of understanding what the Hive blockchain represents.
This post - "Hive’s future as a 2nd layer blockchain network" - is probably the single best one I have read to help anyone interested in even trying to "get it," to understand the enterprise potential of the Hive blockchain.
With its free transactions, 3-second transaction speeds and Web 3.0 design from the ground up, amongst other attributes, it is believed to be far superior to the Ethereum blockchain, as a foundation for future virtual enterprises.
Limited only by the imagination and creative genius of those who are likely already hard at work designing concepts which will prove to be transformational to our futures.
Source 2: Creator geralt on Pixabay
With so many diverse examples to choose from, I only have time to give you a couple of stand-out examples from my own recent history:
If you would like to browse briefly through my Is the Future Bright in Hive's "Second Layer? post associated with these images, dear reader, you will be offered a glimpse into what I am referring to above.
Simply stated, the Hive blockchain is far more than just a social media blockchain.
I hope you have enjoyed this brief introduction to the fascinating "virtual world" available to you here on the Hive blockchain. You have now read a little bit about my "journey" through it. One which is still actively and enthusiastically underway! 👍
on Introducing the Hi From Hive Community!
If you have any interest in finding out more about starting a "journey" of your own and beginning to design the experience which seems best to you, please click on the image above and learn more about the Hi from Hive! community!
You'll be glad you did!
Closing
From wherever in our big, wide world you have "dropped in" to this post, dear reader, thank you for "stopping by!" 🙂 If you are not currently a part of the Hive blockchain, but would like to be, I would be happy to help you create a free account and get off to a flying start. Reach out in the comments below. Or feel free to DM me at roleerob#3299 on Discord.
I’d love to hear any feedback you may be inspired to provide.
Until "next time," all the best to you for a better tomorrow, as we all work together to build up our Hive Communities and add increasing value to our Hive blockchain! 👍 😊
Respectfully,
Blogger @roleerob
Hive "Dolphin" 🐬, Man Cave "Dragon" 🐉, & LeoFinance "Whale" 🐋
🐝 🍯 🐝
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